Elliot Handler, who co-founded the Mattel toy company in 1945, passed away on July 21 at the age of 95. He leaves behind a corporation that grew to become the largest toymaker in the world today. Much of its success can be traced back to 1959 when Handler's wife, Barbara (seen next to him in this photo) created the Barbie doll, which went on to become one of the most successful toys of all time. Looking to create a product that would be as popular with boys, in 1967 Handler asked his head of design to develop a die-cast car that was faster than the others on the market - such as the ones sold by Matchbox.

A year later, Mattel introduced what has become known as the "Sweet Sixteen," its first line of Hot Wheels cars. They were based on both real models and the kind of fantasy hot rods popular in the 1960's. Since then the company has built over 800 different cars, sold more than 4 billion of them and even bought Matchbox in 1996.

Read more: Hot Wheels Creator Remembered - FoxNews.com

I wish I had all the Hot Wheels cars I had as a kid.

Wow & sooo.... close to my B-day

he will be an Icon 4-ever !



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Wish I had the original 16 cars in the box.

I'd keep them for ever the 67 red-line camaro is worth a grip &



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RIP Mr. Handler. Wish I still had my first Hot Wheels as well. I remember the early ones came in a small pop-up house with the car "parked" in the garage. They were expensive in those days as they were a buck and the average Matchbox was 55 cents. And my weekly allowance was 50 cents! My first was a lime green "custom 55 Nomad". So cool.

Bill